Everyday Money Habits
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Resource pack · 4 sheets

First Job Pack.

Four handouts that cover a first real job end to end: read the first paycheck, weigh the offer, turn earnings into a Roth IRA, and handle gig or 1099 income.

For a teen or young adult starting their first job

  1. First-paycheck breakdownWorksheet · First paycheck
  2. Reading a first job offerConversation guide · First job
  3. Teen Roth IRA starter checklistChecklist · Teen Roth IRA
  4. Starting gig or 1099 workConversation guide · Gig work

Every sheet in this pack is below, each on its own page. Choose Print orSave as PDF to get the whole set in one go.

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Everyday Money Habits · Worksheet

Your first paycheck, line by line.

Grab a real pay stub. Copy each number into the blank next to it — no math required, just reading. Then look at how little of "gross pay" reaches your account, and decide where the take-home goes.

  • Teen
  • First job
  • Beginner
Name
Date
Audience
For a teen with their first job
Time
About 15 minutes
Materials
A recent pay stub · a pen
Objective

Read a real pay stub line by line, then split the take-home into today money and tomorrow money.

Use this when

A teen just got their first paycheck and wants to understand where the money went.

Gross vs. net — the two words to know

Gross payEverything you earned this period — before any taxes or deductions come out.
Net pay (take-home)What actually lands in your account after everything comes out. The only number you can spend.
A sample stub
Gross pay$500.00
− Taxes & deductions$58.00
Take-home pay$442.00

Sample only — yours will differ. Now fill in your real numbers below.

1 · Copy these off your pay stub

Gross paythe big number — what you earned before anything came out
$
Federal income taxusually the largest single deduction
$
Social Security + Medicareoften labeled FICA or OASDI/Med
$
State income taxblank in a few states — Texas is one
$
Other deductionshealth insurance, retirement, anything else
$
Take-home paywhat landed in your account
$

2 · Where does the take-home go?

Split the take-home pay from box 1 into three jobs. They should add back up to your take-home.

Today moneybills and things you need this month
$
Tomorrow moneysaved or invested before you can spend it
$
Flexible moneywants — yours to spend, guilt-free
$

3 · Reflection

One thing that surprised you about where the money went:

One thing you'll do differently with next paycheck:

Based on the First paycheck lesson.

michaelwestfinancials.com · © 2026 Michael West Financials · Education, not financial advice · Last reviewed June 2026

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Everyday Money Habits · Conversation guide

Reading a first job offer.

The first thing anyone reads is the hourly number, and that's fair — it's the part you can spend this week. But the wage is only half the offer. The other half is quieter: health coverage, a retirement match, paid days off. Across the country, benefits add up to roughly a third again on top of the wage. This sheet is for reading the whole offer together.

  • Teen
  • First job
  • Parent
Name
Date
Audience
For weighing a first job offer together
Time
About 20 minutes
Materials
The written offer or job posting · a pen
Objective

Look past the wage to score the whole offer — convert it to a yearly number, value the benefits, and ask the right questions before saying yes.

Use this when

A first real job offer is on the table and the wage is the only number anyone has looked at.

1 · Turn the wage into a year

An hourly number is hard to compare. Turn it into a yearly wage first — that's the figure the benefits get added to.

Hourly wage
$/hr
Hours per week
hrs
= Yearly wagehourly × hours per week × 52 weeks
$

2 · Score the benefits

Tick what the job actually includes. Where you can, jot what each is worth — roughly what you'd pay for it yourself. Two offers at the same wage can be very different jobs.

  • Health insurance

    the employer pays most of the premium — money you'd otherwise spend yourself

    Worth roughly$/ yr

  • Retirement match

    extra pay added to a 401(k) when you contribute — only if you put in enough to capture it

    Worth roughly$/ yr

  • Paid time off

    days you don't work but still get paid for

    Worth roughly$/ yr

  • Sick leave

    paid days when you're ill, separate from vacation

    Worth roughly$/ yr

  • Full-time hours (35+/week)

    the line most benefits live above — below it, employers rarely offer them

    Worth roughly$/ yr

3 · What it's really worth

Add the wage and the benefits together. This — not the hourly rate — is what you're really being offered.

Yearly wage (from box 1)
$
+ Benefits totaladd up the "worth roughly" lines from box 2
$
= What the offer is really worth
$

4 · Talk it through

  • Once you add the benefits to the wage, what's the offer really worth?
  • Are you already covered for health some other way — a parent's plan until 26, say? If so, weigh the match and the paid time off more heavily.
  • If it's part-time, is there a path to the full-time role that carries the rest?
  • In a tight market, is holding out for a better offer worth turning this one down?

5 · Three questions before you sign

You can ask all three in a two-minute call or email. The answers turn the unknowns on your scorecard into real numbers.

How many hours a week is this, and is there a path to full-time and benefits down the road?

Do you offer a retirement match, and how soon would I be eligible to start getting it?

If there's health coverage, when does it start and how much comes out of my paycheck for it?

6 · The one move no employer controls

Whatever you decide about this offer, one account in the picture has nothing to do with the company: a Roth IRA is yours. You open it, you fund it, and it follows you from job to job — match or no match. All it asks for is earned income, and a first job just gave you some; at a starter wage you're well under the income limits that would ever phase it out.

Open one, set one small automatic contribution, and start the clock no employer can start for you.

Based on the first-job-offer lesson.

michaelwestfinancials.com · © 2026 Michael West Financials · Education, not financial advice · Last reviewed June 2026

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Everyday Money Habits · Checklist

Open a teen Roth IRA, step by step.

A custodial Roth IRA is one of the most powerful accounts a working teen can start, because decades of growth do the heavy lifting. Work down the list — check each box as you go.

  • Parent
  • Teen
  • First job
Name
Date
Audience
For a parent opening a Roth with a working teen
Time
About 30 minutes
Materials
The teen's pay records · a parent or guardian
Objective

Open a Roth IRA with a working teen — confirm earned income, set an amount within the limits, and fund the first contribution.

Use this when

A teen earned money this year and you want to turn some of it into a lifelong head start.

  1. 1Confirm earned income

    Your teen earned money from work this year — a paycheck or self-employment. Allowance, gifts, and birthday money do not count. No earned income, no Roth.

    Keep as proof of earned income
    • Pay stubs or a year-end W-2 from an employer.
    • For cash or self-employment (babysitting, lawn care): a simple log — date, who paid, how much.

  2. 2Pick the amount

    The most they can put in is the lesser of what they earned and $7,500 this year. For almost every teen, what they earned is the smaller number — so that is the cap.

    What they earned this year$
    This year’s contribution$

    The contribution can never be larger than what they earned. That earned number — not the IRS limit — is the real ceiling for almost every teen.

  3. 3Choose a custodian

    Pick a brokerage that offers a custodial Roth IRA (most large ones do, with no minimum). You open and manage it; the account is in the teen’s name.

  4. 4Open the account

    Open the custodial Roth IRA online. You’ll need the teen’s Social Security number and a few minutes. Control passes to them when they reach adulthood in your state.

  5. 5Fund it

    Move the contribution in. The cash can come from anyone — many parents match what the teen saves — as long as the total never tops what the teen earned.

  6. 6Invest it

    This is the step people forget: cash sitting in the account is not invested. Choose one simple, broad fund so the money can actually grow.

Reflection

Why starting now matters — in your teen’s own words:

Based on the Teen Roth IRA guide.

michaelwestfinancials.com · © 2026 Michael West Financials · Education, not financial advice · Last reviewed June 2026

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Everyday Money Habits · Conversation guide

Starting gig or 1099 work.

A gig pays you directly — no HR, no benefits portal, nothing withheld. That freedom is real, and it quietly hands you four jobs an employer would normally do for you. This sheet is for picking them up on purpose, together, before they pick you.

  • Teen
  • First job
  • Parent
Name
Date
Audience
For setting up a first gig job together
Time
About 25 minutes
Materials
A rough monthly income estimate · a pen
Objective

Set up a first gig or 1099 job right — taxes, a cash buffer, health coverage, and retirement, now that no employer handles them for you.

Use this when

A teen or young adult is starting gig, freelance, or cash work and no one is withholding taxes for them.

1 · Which kind of gig?

"Gig work" hides the question that decides everything else: who the tax form says you are. Tick the one that fits — when in doubt, ask the payer which form you'll get.

  • 1099 contractor

    ride-share, delivery, freelancing — nothing withheld; taxes and retirement are yours to set up

  • W-2 agency employee

    catering, banquet, staffing — taxes withheld, but benefits usually still don't come with it

  • Paid in cash

    babysitting, odd jobs — still taxable; keep a log, because only documented earnings can fund a Roth

The rest of this sheet assumes the 1099 or cash case — that's where the surprises live.

2 · Four jobs an employer would do — now yours

Check each one off as you set it up. They didn't vanish with the employer; they became yours to assemble.

  • Buy your own health coverage

    use the ACA marketplace (healthcare.gov or your state's exchange) — subsidies scale to income, and a lean gig year often means a cheap plan. Don't go uninsured to save the premium.

  • Set aside your own taxes

    nobody withholds. Park about a third of every payment the day it lands, and pay the IRS in four quarterly estimates — skip them and penalties stack up.

  • Build a bigger cash buffer

    no paid time off means a sick week is a week of lost pay. Aim closer to six months than three.

  • Open your own retirement account

    no match to capture, but no vesting clock either — a Roth IRA is yours the day you open it.

  • Open a separate savings account just for taxes.

    A second account the set-aside can't be spent from by mistake — the single highest-leverage thing you can do this month.

Our tax set-aside (about ⅓) goes to this account
Cash-buffer target$

3 · Quarterly taxes & records

Self-employed taxes aren't paid once a year — the IRS expects four estimatedpayments. Tick each off when it's sent. (Dates shift a day or two for weekends.)

  • Q1 · due around April 15earnings from January–March
  • Q2 · due around June 15April–May
  • Q3 · due around September 15June–August
  • Q4 · due around January 15September–December

  • Keep a mileage & expense log.

    Miles driven, supplies, fees, phone — every documented business cost lowers what you owe. A note in your phone the day it happens is enough.

4 · Talk it through

  • Which form will this gig actually pay on — 1099, W-2, or cash?
  • Where will the tax set-aside live, so it's not spent by mistake?
  • What's a realistic per-month buffer goal, given the income swings?
  • Does a higher gig rate still win once taxes, health, and unpaid days come out of it?

5 · One move this week

Four jobs is a lot to pick up at once — health, retirement, and the buffer can come over the coming weeks. One move can't wait: the taxes nobody is withholding. Every payment you spend in full is a tax bill you're quietly borrowing against.

Open a separate savings account for taxes this week, and the day your next payment lands, move about a third of it straight in — before it can turn into spending money.

Based on the gig-work lesson.

michaelwestfinancials.com · © 2026 Michael West Financials · Education, not financial advice · Last reviewed June 2026

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